triumphs and tragedies

triumphs:
I've almost survived my first earnings season at the my new job! It's great, I love it, etc., but I'm learning that my editing skillz start going downhill around 9pm (which is really unfortunate when you work from 4-10)

andré rocked the Res last weekend with a trip to an Indian Reservation in southern Colorado. 15 hours in the car in 2 days, but he got to see the law and the tribe in action. And eat "the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life" (direct quote)

Rhett wore a suit to church on Sunday and it was even cuter than we could imagine.

Chelsea came home from her mission and we ran in the snow through the airport to make it (somewhat) in time. Rhett was super cute with his sign, but he's still warming up to his aunt.

tragedies:
Rhett's diaper leaked through the super cute suit pants, so he spent the last 10 minutes of church is a shirt, suit coat, socks, and shoes with no pants. Life is rough when you're 1.

Temperatures dropped from 60 degrees Monday morning to 15 degrees within just a few hours. The high today is 5 degrees, but my phone says it feels like -13. Welcome, winter. Woof.

I made André get "The Fault in Our Stars" from redbox the other night. Turns out I didn't give him a good summary about the plot (cancer kids in love), so we finished the movie in a depressed state and had to cheer ourselves up with YouTube videos. (not the worst tragedy in the world, but still)

this is halloween

Here are lots of Halloween pictures for your viewing pleasure:

André and I had to redeem ourselves after our poor showing at last year's couple Halloween party. So naturally we went with Wesley and Buttercup from the Princess Bride. Our costumes didn't turn out as good as they were in my head, but they were definitely better than this picture shows. André even grew a mustache for the occasion! We even won Best Couple Costume! Take that, 2013.

Rhett was obsessed with his monkey costume. He would wrestle and smother it with hugs when he wasn't wearing it. André dressed up as the Man in the Yellow Hat for the trunk or treat and they stole the show.

On actual Halloween Rhett and I went trick or treating on Pearl Street and took advantage of all the Halloween freebies. For never having candy in his life, Rhett is now very aware of the candy bowl and where it is stored. Oh boy.

Master trick-or-treater in action

All in all, a successful Halloween!

little moments: october

also known as "Rhett's Adventures in October", because he is the star of the show.

Rhett Kaiser, budding piano prodigy

Learning how to style his hair with his lunch--this day was spaghetti sauce mousse. 

Beautiful fall days...the weather this month was unbelievable!

Rhett loves General Conference (more like this was the only moment he actually stood still)

 Crazy mirror selfies at the Children's Museum

When did my baby turn 15 years old?

We found a new favorite pizza place and thanks to a coupon and a baking mistake, we ended up with three personal pizza for the price of one. That's our kind of date!

Rhett's newest trick is raising his arms above his head for "ta-da!" It's the cutest.

 Rhett on a hayride...he held that piece of hay the entire time

Rhett and Benson, best buddies. 

Baby in a wagon

Somedays you've just got to take your pants off and read outside.

 Crazy eyes! Rhett thought he was hilarious.

The goat that tried to use us as a distraction so he could escape. Better luck next time, goat!

Seriously, this kid is a daredevil at the playground. Nothing gets in his way.

Pumpkin patch baby, because when it's October there's nothing better to do than to visit all the area pumpkin patches

Seriously, when did he get old enough to sit at the train table? Clearly I'm in denial.

Pinterest in real life! This is a major success, people!

The Man in the Yellow Hat + Monkey + Mom go trunk-or-treating

Monkey baby loves cheap Halloween Chipotle. 

currently...

eating/drinking: water and a homemade granola bar. you know, the usual.

listening to: playlists of my college years. In an attempt to clean out my iTunes, I'm giving some songs a final listen to determine if they stick around or not. I'm more of an internet music listener these days, so my iTunes is like a time capsule from my senior year of high school to my sophomore year of college when I had a few questionable music interests. 

working on: freelance articles for a parenting website. things like how to stop a kid's ears from popping on a plane and how to get ready for baby swim class. riveting topics. 

anticipating: The holidays! We are so excited to my parents to come for Thanksgiving and for Rhett to get a little more out of Christmas this year. Plus paper snowflakes! Christmas goodies! Wrapping presents! Turkey bowls! So much excitement!

baking: Pumpkin everything! Seriously, though: I made this pumpkin pie dip for a Halloween party and found an excuse to make this pumpkin bread for some ladies in the ward. 

reading: I'm finally getting around to my 2014 goal to read "Jesus the Christ". André is reading when he gets a spare moment so we discuss it together. I feel like it's a rite of Mormonism to read this book, but it is definitely spiritual/intellectually stimulating/inspiring/slightly overwhelming all at once.

loving: Flea Market Flip is new to Netflix and it's been my go-to background binge. And now I have the serious urge to go to a flea market/ have my own HGTV show.

buying: Christmas presents. It's a disease. I have to calm myself down so I don't buy them all tomorrow. 

wanting: to take family pictures before the beautiful fall leaves are gone, the royals to win the world series, a tropical vacation, and a gold herringbone iphone case. Is that too much to ask?

brought to you by the letter P

life lately: (the fun stuff)

pumpkin patches

a

 Law school picnics (our only chance to see André during daylight hours)

 Pizza dates

a day in the life

I've been meaning to do this for a while, and finally got around to it. It might not be that interesting to you, but I think someday I'll look back and laugh at how I spent my days with a one-year-old. So sorry for the overload, but stalk away. Here is a typical day in my life:

5:45am: The alarm comes way too early, but I've learned that I feel so much better if I can get a few things done and be showered before Rhett gets up. I exercise, read scriptures, and shower just in time to get Rhett from his crib.

6:50am: We take André to the bus (pray on the way because we're running late again) and discuss current events and our schedules on the way. The morning drive is a favorite moment together, and the mountains are especially beautiful this morning.

7:10am: Rhett and I read stories, then it's time for breakfast. I try to get some work done for my social media clients while Rhett gets picky about what he wants to eat (today he's all for cheerios and zucchini muffin but not a fan of pancake)

8:00am: I get ready while Rhett plays in destroys the bathroom. We play, then I try to squeeze in a little piano practice for the choir, but Rhett decides he wants to play too. He's quite the prodigy.

8:45am: We're out the door to check out a sale before we go to the library. We score some good deals and make it to the library just in time. Rhett loves story time and Miss Abby.

10:00am: Home from the library, we sing a song and Rhett takes a nap. I head downstairs to work. Nap time is precious for meeting those freelance deadlines and trying to cross things off my to-do list. Today I'm writing about commercial garden hedges and editing pieces on parenting.

12:30pm: Rhett's awake and it's time for lunch! We gobbles grapes like it's his job.

1:15pm: We head out for our daily adventure--getting out of the house every day is so important for our sanity. Today we are running a few errands and checking out a new park. Rhett is a maniac and gets in everyone's business. He loves it and I love that he loves it.

3:30pm: Home for a snack. Rhett plays while I throw dinner in the crockpot. Then it's time for a few stories and nap time.

4:00pm: Work time. It's earnings season, so the editing load should be a lot heavier than normal, but tonight is fairly tame.

5:30pm: Rhett wakes up and eats dinner in between editing assignments. Somewhere in this time, I work, eat dinner, and Rhett plays.

7:00pm: I sign off from work and we go pick up André from the bus. We chat and play while he eats dinner, then it's bedtime for Rhett: brush teeth, read books, scriptures, song, prayer.

8:00pm: André studies and I work, but that soon deteriorates to "work" (as in the kind of work you do with an episode of Parks and Rec in the background), catch up on blogs, email, and do a little online shopping.

9:30pm: We're done for the night and officially exhausted. It's Chuck time, so we watch an episode but I fall asleep for the last 10 minutes and André has to wake me up and fill me in. A glamorous life, people.

10:45pm: In bed and it feels so good! We are seriously turning to old people with an early bedtime.

things we learned this weekend

• there is no such thing as pumpkin overload. we made pumpkin chocolate chip bread and pumpkin better than cake and have been in a delightful pumpkin coma all weekend. no regrets. 
• college football is a thrill-ride (just kidding, we already knew this)
• apparently people actually go to the movie theater early saturday morning. we went to see Meet the Mormons at 9:45 and there was a showing of almost every other movie. let's just say we were in a strange saturday morning movie-going crowd. 
• making friends with store employees=more samples. We checked out the new Oil and Vinegar store and chatted up a worker to get the inside scoop, the best flavors, and the freshest sample bread. win win win. 
• wet playgrounds mean wet babies. and wet babies can smell like wet dog. We literally got to the park just as a freak rainstorm dumped for 10 minutes. I still let Rhett play when it was done, but it turns out babies can get soggy and stinky really quickly. lesson learned.
• sewing flowy fabric is harder in real life than it is in your head. but look at this dress that I whipped up while Rhett was napping! Aren't I so domestic?
  
  (jokes. in real life Rhett wasn't actually sleeping, just crying in his crib. this Pinterest project claimed to take 15 minutes but took more than an hour and I skipped some steps and the sash became a necessity to cover the flaws. and I'm still on the fence about the fabric--it's one of those things that can just as easily be cute or ugly, but I got it for like 8000% off, so it would be a shame not to wear it.)